The advantages of this learning techniques may be: - Through this technique the ideas are better consolidated and the information better structured; it will be easier to for the students to remember and understand them. - The "Cluster" Technique can also be applied individually (even in the evaluation stage) or to the whole class, to systematize and consolidate the information. - During the analysing phase the students can be guided through questions, by grouping the information according to certain criteria. The cluster technique greatly appeals to our creativity as teachers. It may be used in teaching, the verifying the students’ knowledge, systematizing and consolidating their knowledge. Application Steps (How do you apply this method in a science course) The technique of producing a Cluster involves the following steps: 1. The teacher writes a kernel-sentence or a simple word in the middle of the table/on a booklet page/ on a flipchart sheet; 2. The students are asked to work individually or in groups, 3. They write words/phrases which come to their mind in connection with the topic/issue under discussion; 4. They write down all the ideas that come to the students mind in connection with the theme/ issue up to the deadline assigned by the teacher or until they have put down all their ideas; 5. The words /ideas suggested by the intial word/phrase set as a starting point are linked in a chain, by drawing lines which should show the connections between the ideas (either presupposed or possible connections); 6. Each group present their own “cluster”; 7. The “clusters” are analysed and used to shape a unique “cluster” under the teacher’s supervision. 8. After solving the task, the students will use the obtained concepts and links to express ideas on the proposed concept. Thus, it will be created a structure like the one in the picture at the right:
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CONCEPTUL PROPUS
The basic rules of this method are: Do put down all that come in your mind; Do not write your ideas according to their importance or value, just put them down on the sheet of paper; Don’t worry about the spelling, th punctuation or the other rules that takes on the written text; Do not stop writing until the time is over; If the ideas do not come, don’t lose your hope: they will eventually appear; Let the connections flow. Do not limit the number of ideas and connections. Example 1. During the lesson designed for the 11th graders titled „The Chemical Balance” you can sketch the following cluster:
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